Draw frame for blending fibers



June 3, 1969 w, KLElN ET AL 3,447,206

DRAW FRAME FOR BLENDING FIBERS Filed Oct. 24, 1967 INVENTORS. WILLIAM G.KLEIN 8 WARNER H. TABOR Z3 &@MQ

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DRAW FRAME FOR BLENDING FIBERS Filed Oct. 24, 1967 Sheet 3 of 2INVENTORS.

WILLIAM G. KLEIN 8 WARNER H. TABOR their A TTOR/VEYS United StatesPatent 3,447,206 DRAW FRAME FOR BLENDING FIBERS William G. Klein,Wellesley Hills, Mass., and Warner H. Tabor, Bristol, R.I., assignors toWhitin Machine Works, Inc., Whitinsville, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Filed Oct. 24, 1967, Ser. No. 677,570 Int. Cl. D01]: /00;D01g /00, 27/00 US. Cl. 19-443 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Thedisclosure herein relates to apparatus and a process for blendingmultifiber slivers wherein slivers of fiber are conducted from thecreels in a drawing frame into the back rolls of a drafting head byguide mechanisms which flatten each of the separate slivers and assemblethe flattened slivers into superimposed relation so as to form a webbefore the slivers reach the back rolls.

perfectly dispersed but randomly dispersed. To achieve a high degree ofblending efi'iciency when the fibers are drawn on a draw frame, it mightbe supposed that the greater the initial distribution of the fibers tobe blended, the better will be the end result of the blending process.This is because blending by drawing is a surface phenomenon and a higherratio of available fiber blending surfaces to volume for dissimilarblend components exists when there are finer basic subdivisions of thedifferent fibers. But blending in drawing takes place only by verticalmigration of fibers because blending is a one-, not two-dimensionalphenomenon. Consequently, superior blending eificiency results only whenthe slivers of fiber are so disposed relative to each other that theavailable blending surface to volume ratio is highest in the planedetermined by the nips of the back rolls of the drafting system.

In accordance with the present invention, separate groups of slivers offibers are fed to a guide mechanism, located immediately adjacent and infront of the back rolls of the drafting head of a conventional drawframe, which flattens and sandwiches the slivers into a web of blendcomponents having a high surface to volume ratio in the drafting zone ofthe back rolls.

More particularly, in accordance with the present invention, separategroups of slivers of fiber are supported in their passage from the cansto the drafting system by a conventional creel and guides which keep theslivers separate from one another. After passing these guides, theslivers are fed into a second set of guides which produce asandwich-type, three-layer web of the blend components by flattening theslivers into a sheet or ribbon and then superimposing alternate layersof the ribbons into a combined web. Thereafter, the combined web passesinto the nips of the back rolls and through the drafting head and isdischarged as a thin blended sheet or web.

For a better understanding of the present invention,

reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a lap machine in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a guide mechanism in accordance with thepresent invention which feeds slivers of fiber to the back rolls of adrafting head;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the guide mechanism of FIG. 2 showingthe feeding of slivers of fiber;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the sliver configuration in the planedetermined by the nips of the back rolls taken along line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

By way of example and for purposes of illustration, the presentinvention will be described below in the preparation of a 2 to 1Dacron-cotton blend utilizing a lap machine having three drafting heads,although it will be understood that the invention is not limited to theillustrated example but comprehends the use of other blend componentsand blend ratios and the use of any number of drafting heads.

The invention may, for example, employ other natural fibers, such aswool, silk or the like and other synthetic fibers, such as rayon, nylon,acetate, polypropylene and the like.

The blended lap may be formed from different natural fibers, differentsynthetic fibers or, as in the illustrated example, some slivers may beformed of natural fibers while others are formed of synthetic fibers.

It will be understood, however, that the number, type and weight of theindividual slivers fed to the drafting heads may be varied according toany particular blend desired in the resulting lap.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, a plurality of Dacron slivers 2 and cottonslivers 4 are conducted from an appropriate number of cans 6 to the backrolls 8 of the drafting heads 10, 12 and 14 by means of a conventionalcreel (not shown) and two sets of guides 16 and 18, respectively.

The first set of guides 16 (FIG. 3) prevent any sliver intimacy fromoccurring before sandwiching in the guides 18 which could cause loss of"sliver control in the back rolls 8, and are of conventional design. Asecond set of guides 18, located immediately adjacent and in front ofthe back rolls, in accordance with the present invention, comprise aplurality of lateral guide plates or dividers 20 and vertical guideplates or dividers 22 defining a plurality of three-tiered passageways24 which taper convergently in the direction of the back rolls 8.

After passing over the guide 16, the Dacron slivers 2 are fed to theout-side rows of the three-tiered passageways 24 of the guides 18 whilethe cotton slivers 4 are simultaneously fed to the middle row ofpassageways.

As shown in FIG. 4, the guides 18 flatten the slivers into ribbons andsandwich a flattened cotton sliver 4 between two flattened slivers ofDacron 2 producing a threelayer, sandwich-type Web 26 having in thedrafting zone of the back rolls 8 the configuration 28 shown in FIG. 5.Inasmuch as blending is a one-dimensional phenomenon and the guide 18assures maximum surface contact to facilitate such blending, asdescribed above, the guide assures a more uniform and complete blendingof the yarns during processing in the drafting heads and subsequentoperations in combing laps, or the like. The blending of the sliverconfiguration 28 depends strongly upon the good register between thethree-layers of ribbons of the sandwich web 26.

The drafting heads 10-14 each produce a ribbon or sheet 30 of desiredmaterial which is directed to a table 32, where, in successive fashion,the ribbon nearest the delivery end is superimposed over the ribbonproduced by the adjacent head. The combined sheet 34 then passes througha calendar roll 36 and is wound into a lap 38. On reaching the requiredsize, the lap 38 is conveniently rejected and is ready for furtherprocessing.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that theabove-described invention is susceptible of modification and variationwithout departing from its spirit and scope. Therefore, the invention isnot deemed to be limited except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In apparatus for blending fibers in which said fibers are provided bya plurality of slivers of which ones are respectively formed ofdiffering ones of said fibers, and in which said slivers are fed to theback rolls of a drafting head, the improvement comprising an array offirst guide plates disposed ahead of said rolls and spaced from eachother in the axial direction of said rolls, an array of second guideplates extending in said axial direction between said first plates andcoupled thereto to form therewith a guide structure, said second platesbeing spaced in a plane normal to said axial direction to formtherebetween for said plurality of slivers a respectively correspondingplurality of passageways extending towards said rolls through saidstructure such that each two adjacent passageways are commonly boundedby one of said second plates, and said second plates being in respectiveplanes which are parallel to the axes of said rolls and which convergein the direction towards said rolls to render said passagewaysconvergently tapered in such direction so as to enable each of saidpassageways to flatten the sliver passing therethrough.

2. In a method for blending fibers by feeding to the back rolls of adrafting head and drawing through said head a plurality of slivers ofwhich ones are respectively formed of dilfering ones of said fibers, theimprovement comprising, drawing said plurality of slivers through arespectively corresponding plurailty of passageways disposed ahead ofsaid rolls and spaced from each other in a plane normal to the axialdirection of said rolls, each of said passageways being tapered in saidplane convergently in the direction towards said rolls to terminate atan outlet of smaller dimension in said plane than the diameter of theentering sliver so as to impart a flattening in said plane to the sliveremerging from that outlet and a broadening of such sliver normal to suchplane, and guiding such flattened slivers before entry thereof into thenip of said rolls so as to render the center lines of all said sliversin said plane and to produce a registering face to face relation betweenthe broadened surfaces of such slivers.

3. The improvement in method according to claim 2 comprising the furtherstep of bringing said emerging fiattened slivers into engagement witheach other at a location ahead of said rolls to thereby form of saidslivers prior to entry thereof into the nip of said rolls a multilayerweb wherein said slivers are parallel and the broadened surfaces thereofare in superimposed contacting relation.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,848,667 3 1932 Scott 19--.23

3,216,064 11/1965 Kates 19243 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,085,021 9/ 1967 GreatBritain.

OTHER REFERENCES Japanese Patent Publication No. 38-5869 to Toyowa,Published May 14, 1963.

DORSEY NEWTON, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

